The Battle Around Us

“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:28)

This post has thoughts from a morning devotional by Paul Tripp. Sections are quoted from his book “New Morning Mercies” for July 25.

We live in a war zone, spiritually speaking. There is a battle that rages around us, and it’s my belief it is fought on several levels.

The first level is against our salvation, as satan’s desire is to keep as many as possible from eternal salvation. Whether you land on the side of election or free will, his purpose is still the same, as he isn’t able to know who will be saved and who won’t. He know he is going down, and wants to take with him as many as possible. That is how great his hatred is for God.

If he loses at that level, then his next goal is to make sure that as a child of God you are as ineffective a believer as possible. Consider the following quote from the devotional:

“That means you need to understand you list in a war zone. And you need to be very clear on this – that great spiritual war is fought on the turf of your heart and it’s fought for control of your soul. Your life is lived every day in the middle of that war. It’s a war of doubt and faith. It’s a war of submission and rebellion. It’s a war of anxiety and trust. It’s a war of wisdom and foolishness. It’s a war of hope and despair. It’s a war of allegiance and disloyalty. It’s a war.”

If we understand this, then it’s important to see what this war is, as well as what it is not.

It is not a fight for your salvation – once you accept that free gift with complete faith, your salvation is secured.

The fight now is for your daily life, and to keep you spiritually distracted by wondering about the security of your eternal destination so that you won’t think outside of yourself and those around you who also need to hear the gospel as well as see if displayed in your life for them to see.

Those around you don’t need to see a perfect person, but simply you at peace with the knowledge and security of your salvation in the midst of an imperfect world, lived out and displayed in the life of an imperfect person who is in process of being perfected.

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)